active shooter

noun

plural active shooters
: a person who is illegally using a firearm to kill or try to kill people especially in a public place : a person who is shooting at people
Stunned shoppers and mall employees initially mistook the sound of glass breaking for gunshots, leading to false rumors of an active shooter.Caitlin Antonios
active shooter drills

Examples of active shooter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The police spokesperson also said a third person was taken into custody a couple of hours after the shooting — a man reportedly reacting to a text that falsely said there was an active shooter at Sky Harbor. Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 26 Dec. 2024 Yet many workers didn’t have even the rudimentary training that Mitchell and other bank employees had gone through on their laptops about what to do in case of an active shooter. Chris Isidore, CNN, 19 Dec. 2024 Late Monday morning, officers responded to an active shooter call at Abundant Life, with multiple officers giving lifesaving aid to those wounded in the school. Tara Suter, The Hill, 17 Dec. 2024 The shooting occurred Monday morning in a classroom at Abundant Life Christian School during study hall, said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, who added that a second-grade student called 911 to report an active shooter at 10:57 a.m. local time. Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for active shooter 

Word History

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of active shooter was in 1999

Dictionary Entries Near active shooter

Cite this Entry

“Active shooter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/active%20shooter. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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